There are estimated to be around 500,000 sailing
craft currently in use in the UK, including yachts and dinghies.
It is estimated that there are 900,000 people in the UK who
take part in sailing activities every year. The Royal Yachting
Association (RYA) is the national representative body for sailing
activities and currently has 86,000 members. This figure also
includes motor boat users who are members. There are also 1,500
clubs and organisations affiliated to the RYA. Not all members
of local clubs are also individual members of the RYA.

Marine features where the activity takes
place

For day boats and cruisers which are trailed,
access is likely to be overwhelmingly via public access slipways,
although some may launch from beaches. Larger cruising craft
are kept on swing moorings, on pontoons at sailing clubs or
within marinas. Within mSAC areas, the swing moorings are generally
within estuaries, within the vicinity of intertidal mud and
sand flats and sandbanks, or within large shallow inlets and
bays.

Large areas of open water are the favoured
locations for sailors, and therefore most of the activities
will be concentrated on estuaries, and large inlets and bays
within the mSAC areas.

Likely to occur

Unlikely to occur

Estuaries

ü

Mud and Sand Flats

ü

Sandbanks

ü

Inlets and Bays

ü

Reefs

ü (small craft only)

Lagoons

ü

Sea Caves

ü (not possible for sailing
navigation)

Grey Seal

ü

Common Seal

ü

Bottlenose Dolphin

ü

Codes Of Practice

Tidelines, 1997 – Available from the Royal
Yachting Association

Navigate with Nature, 1998 – Available from
the British Marine Industries Federation